Rivers of Blood
by acelenny
Summary: Harry Potter does not live with his parents and older brother. Technically, he isn't even living. He returns to the Wizarding world as a prince and a Vampire, but does he bring salvation or devastation with him? As the clouds close in and new threats and armies shake the earth with their passing, rivers of blood will flow!
1. Chapter 1: A meeting at Potter Manor

**Author's Note:**

 **This is my first attempt at writing any sort of story if I am honest and so any feedback at all would be appreciated.**

 **I only have a general sense of where I will take this story so any suggestions may be helpful later on.**

 **Also, please try to at least read a couple of chapters before giving up, I know that the first chapter is a bit of an information dump which might put some people off. The chapters are not very long and I am pretty sure that they will improve dramatically quite quickly.**

 **Edit:20/10/2016**

 **I have now revamped (he, he, he, get it?) the first few chapters. What was chapter 2 is now part of chapter 1 and so chapter 3 has become chapter 2. I have also made various changes to these chapters and so I strongly encourage anyone who has already read them to re-read them.**

 **I must say thanks once again to mergirl007 on reddit who gave me the feedback that I needed to make some of these changes, hopefully for the better.**

 **This extra a/n will also be in the new chapter 2 and 3 just so that anyone who jumps to there will see it. Therefore, if you have already read it, just skip it.**

 **June 1st** **1992:**

 **A lone figure stood inside the gates at the end of the long, winding driveway leading to Potter Manor, ancestral home of the Potter family. It examined its surroundings before progressing along the gravel drive with long strides. He could simply have arrived instantly at the manor, indeed, he could have stepped straight into the Potter's main living room and there was nothing that they could have done to stop him.**

 **However, his appearance was about to cause the family a great deal of discomfort as it was and so while doing so might have been amusing, this was not the time for displays of power. This was an occasion which required delicacy and tact. This was the day that Lord James Potter, his wife Lady Lily Potter, and their soon to be twelve years old heir, Zacharias Potter were to be reintroduced to the youngest Potter child, born Harry James Potter.**

 **Reaching the grand double doors or the Manor, the figure took a moment to examine the building up close. He had no need to; he had noticed and assessed every possible detail about it from the end of the driveway, over five hundred metres away. His inhuman eyes had seen the beautifully carved white marble gryphons and lions on the walls. He had appreciated the elegance of the hand crafted oak doors and as every other detail of the impressively large marble building which practically shone in the morning sun. No, he took a moment to collect himself for the task ahead, a rare sense of trepidation sinking in. He was not a man to feel doubt. Indeed, he was not what many wizards would call a man at all. This was however, to be one of the more unnerving moments of his long life and so he paused.**

 **Reminding himself of who he was and the reason for his being here, the man placed the palm of his hand flat against the right hand door before him, alerting those within to his presence. Normally, the ancient wards surrounding the manor would have alerted the occupants to the approach of their visitor. For that matter, they would have prevented anyone from entering the extensive Potter lands without the express permission of the current pater familias or another family member with permission to do so. He was exempt from these however, no wards having been designed as of yet by the wizarding world, which could prevent him or his kind from going where they pleased.**

 **After a few moments, the double doors opened before him and he was shown in by a fearful house elf dressed in a smart red uniform reminiscent of a British 19** **th** **century Recoat. Knowing pureblood society's at times outdated knowledge of the muggle world; that was probably exactly what it was a replica of. Once he was inside, the elf bowed low to the ground as it closed the door and disappeared with a** ** _pop,_** **relieved to be out of his presence. Apparently, the Potters had felt the need to give their household servants early warning of the nature of their visitor.**

 **The entrance way he stood in was grand to say the least. The light, oak floor complemented the smooth marble of the walls and the soaring, twin mahogany staircases and the room was bathed in the light streaming in from the skylights and the vast stained glass windows that framed the staircases. Personally, he thought that the roaring golden lions stitched into the carpets were too ostentatious.**

 **A man entered the room from a door leading off to the right and paused for a moment, a uneasy creeping spreading across his face before it solidified into resignation. The man had messy black hair sticking out in every direction and large circular glasses sitting half way down his nose. While he was clearly a relatively young man most likely in his early thirties, his face spoke of someone who had seen perhaps a little more of the nastier side of the wizarding world than he would have liked.**

* * *

 **Lord James Potter stood in the doorway leading from the Manor's main formal living room into the entrance hall, taking in the appearance of the figure before him with a distinct sense of dread. He had been waiting for this day for six years, ever since his youngest son had been taken away. He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose from where they had slipped to and strengthened his resolve; reminding himself of why the boy had needed to go away in the first place.**

 **In his mind, though he would forever feel guilty for his inaction, he had had no choice. The magic of his entire family had been placed against the value of the life of one child and had emerged on top. The first Lord Potter had, in his opinion, had an unforgivable moment of weakness. While travelling in Transylvania and Wallachia in the mid-15th century with his family, he was captured by Wallachian troops Loyal to the then Prince, Vlad III Dracula, who recognising him as a nobleman, had brought him before their ruler.**

 **They had no knowledge of the Wizarding world. They did they know that the true Prince had been, killed and that the man they served was actually the first Vampire in existence, by then already thousands of years old and seeking a new source of entertainment in a new world.**

 **Lord Potter had been terrified, for he feared being turned into a vampire and so he had made a deal with the imposter. Vlad had agreed to spare him on the condition that one of his sons, and from then on every thirtieth child born to the Potter family was given up to him. Potter's third son was dutifully given to the vampire later that day. Explaining to his wife what he had done had been a, difficult task to say the least and afterwards, there was no longer a possibility of him having any more children. By that point however, he had no choice but to carry through on the deal and so Vlad took the child and he remained in Wallachia as the rest of the family fled. Vlad had forced him to form a pact with him, written in his own blood which would forfeit the magic of the Potter family forever more if the deal was not followed through on.**

 **The vampire, while perceived as evil by the wizarding world at large, was not heartless. He had children of his own although only one was known to his Wallachian subjects. He understood the love a parent felt for their child as he himself cared for his. Because of this, certain conditions were in place.**

 **Firstly, the Potter children would be taken on their fifth birthday, having spent their infancy years with their biological family. They would then not have contact with said family until they were about to turn eleven. The age had no particular significance for vampires, but Vlad understood its significance to wizards and had felt it to be an appropriate age for a reunion to take place. After this, the children would be allowed to spent certain time with their birth family.**

 **The King of the vampires had no intention or hurting the child, at least not unnecessarily. Indeed, they would have a place among his own children and be treated as such. He had his own motives behind the arrangement with the most ancient and noble house of Potter. Motives which he did not reveal to the family.**

 **Over five hundred years later in 1981, the thirtieth child after that first one was taken was born to James and Lily Potter and they had dutifully given him up, with much lamentation, to a vampire sent by Vlad, King of the vampires, on the 31st July 1986.**

 **The same man who had taken their son away from him now stood before Lord James Potter for a second time and although he had seen him before, he was still taken aback by the figure standing in his house.**

 **Lord Chamberlain Ivan Komorov was a tall but slender man, standing at a little less than seven foot in height with an obsidian black longsword slung at his hip. He was clad in smooth, elegant black plate armour that was clearly not formed out of metal. There was nothing extravagant about it, nothing was in excess. Not a single scrap of flesh was visible and the armour by itself made for an intimidating sight. What made it terrifying however, was the helm. It was utterly smooth apart from a crease which protruded slightly from the material from where the helm met the gorget. It had no air holes and no slits for the wearer to see out and James could only assume that it was enchanted or charmed internally to allow the man beneath to see and breath. The armour left the person inside totally dehumanised. An emotionless, expressionless mass which emanated a sense of cold, calculating menace. Not even the sound of the vampire sniffing the air around him escaped.**

 **Steeling himself, James Potter strode towards the Lord Chamberlain a hand held out in greeting, his face now held in a warm but perfectly calm, pureblood expression.**

 **"Good morning, it is a pleasure to see you again."**

 **As far as the Lord Chamberlain was concerned, his meeting with the Potters was going rather well. Having interacted with Wizarding society very little, he had been a little unsure of what to expect.**

 **Other than the mild look of shock on Lily Potter's face when he had been led into the living room by her husband and the unnerved expression on the face of the Boy-Who-Lived, he had been greeted cordially and had responded in kind, at least, as far as he was able to do so. He had however refused the proffered seat in preference for standing and, unwilling to unhelm, he had refused the offer of a drink.**

 **The niceties satisfied, James Potter had taken a seat next to his red haired wife on a luxurious, deep red sofa and after having lent across to place a reassuring hand on his son's shoulder where he was reclining in a plush crimson and gold armchair sitting at a right angle to the sofa, said "So, what happens now?"**

 **The vampire had explained to them that he would be reintroducing them to their son soon, but that it had been decided that before then, the family should have the opportunity to ask him any questions they might have. Better that they get such matters out of the way early on than to have 'Harry' in the room with them at time. He had been faced with the most of the questions he had expected and a few that he had not from Lily and James.**

 **Naturally they had been worried about his well being and his desire to consume the blood of others among other things and it had taken no small effort on his part to reassure Lily that there would be no incidents of a young, vampire tearing through nearby Godric's Hollow in a crazed search for blood. He could not actually guarantee that that would not happen, but knowing their son as he did, he found it very unlikely, well, fairly unlikely.**

 **As to the boy's health, he had decided to let them discover that for themselves, he had no desire to upset the humans sitting before him overly much. In truth, he was also unsure as to what he would tell them. Physically, their younger son was in near perfect condition as far as he was concerned apart from one minor point... Psychologically however, well, even for a vampire, 'Harry' had a few, concerning points.**

 **"There are two things that you should be aware of" he announced, having answered James' final question. "Firstly, 'Harry' has not gone by his birth name since he arrived at my King's castle. It was felt that as he has become part of the Royal family, it was best for him to adopt a name more like those given to the King's other children. To help him to be more at home you understand."**

 **This was met with frowns and uncertainty from the Potters, with Zacharias leaning forward in his seat. Ivan was unsure of what to make of the boy; he had sat quietly in his chair since the vampire had entered the room, seemingly unwilling or unable to ask any questions with an indecipherable expression on his face. He was the spitting image of his father from the uncontrollable hair to the glass perched on his nose. The only difference was his eyes. He had his mother's emerald green eyes. 'Harry' would have been an almost identical, younger, copy of him had he grown up with his birth family for the past few years**

 **"Harry' was given a choice of traditional names to choose from and he chose to honour the King by taking a lengthened version of his name as well as a new middle name. While he respects the name you gave him, he has asked me to request that you refrain as far as possible from addressing him as Harry. Harry James ceased to exist six years ago on July 31st, Vladimir Constantin rose in his place."**

 **(A/N Name change will be in effect from here onwards).**

 **Needless to say, this was not especially welcome news but after five minutes of lamentation from Lily Potter and poorly hidden anger from her husband. The two adult Potters had calmed down. Hopefully the change in name would not be held against the boy though it had in truth, been entirely his choice.**

 **After over an hour of mostly one way back and forth conversation and the delivery of a number of shrunken items which the Lord Chamberlain had drawn from various seemingly non-existent spaces around his armour, it was time for the Potter family to be reintroduced to its second son.**

 **The vampire moved from where he was standing before the family and moved over to a clear area besides the seating. As he did so, the Potters rose form their seats and moved to stand as a group slightly away from both him and the seating. James Potter was clearly anxious, shuffling from one foot to another slightly, hands clasped behind his back in an attempt to hide the slight whitening of the knuckles with an expression that was caught between a smile and a frown. Standing beside him, his wife was in contrast making no such effort to hide her emotions; with a similar expression she wrung her hands together before her and blinked far more than normal. Their eldest son stood before them, hands by his sides, a look of anxiety and eager anticipation on his face, his teeth gently worrying at his bottom lip. Behind his visor, the Lord Chamberlain took a brief moment to consider how starkly the boy contrasted with his returning brother.**

 **One of the many gifts that Royal vampires possessed that their weaker kin did not was a talent for communicating via thought, in what might be described as a weak hive mind by humans though in truth it was far more graceful and effective than anything developed by other species. Sending a brief burst of thought to the returning child who was awaiting his signal back in his King's fortress, he began his introduction.**

 **"Presenting his Royal Highness, Prince Vladimir Constantin Dracula, Baron of the Blood Keep, sixth in line to the throne of Sylvania."**

 **...**


	2. Chapter 2: A new year, a new tournament

**A/N This is just an announcement to say that in order to make my life easier while writing this (and because I love the lore) I will be utilising things from the Warhammer Fantasy universe in this story. I actually realised that I had already drawn on it a little bit unconsciously and it fits perfectly with the plans I already had. This does not mean that this is now a crossover story by any means, it just means that anyone reading this who knows something about Warhammer Lore will see some very familiar things. Having said that here is my disclaimer to say: 'Please don't sue me Games Workshop because I do not own anything that looks as though it might belong to you!'.**

 **1) As you will see below, there is a time jump between chapters 2 and 3. I have done this because I don't want to get myself bogged down in 'filler' bit which could become very boring very quickly for everyone. However, I do want to include some extract from the gap and other areas. At the moment, they will simply be posted as normal chapters, but if people would prefer, I can post them as a separate fic (I know that my plan may annoy some people) please tell me if it becomes annoying later on.**

 **2) Also, this fic will come from more than one perspective at times but will be focused around Vladimir, this is just prior warning to anyone who hates that sort of thing.**

 **3) I apologies now for what I think is pretty terrible dialogue.**

 **4) I have changed the name and description somewhat because I felt that they needed improvement. What do you think? (**

 **5) Lastly, I would quite like to hear any thoughts anyone has on where this story will go. I have a rough (very rough) plot line in my head by I do like hearing other people's ideas.**

 **Also, anyone who only wants to read stories about Twilight style Vampires may be disappointed by the fact that mine don't sparkle in the sunlight like glitter covered children.**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Zacharias Potter (or Zack as everyone called him), sat on the Hogwarts express alongside his friends, waving to his Mother and Father as the train pulled away from Platform nine and three-quarters; whisking him away to his fifth year at Hogwarts.**

 **When the station was finally out of sight, he turned around to look at the other occupants of his compartment. Next to him sat Ron, who was carefully examining a chocolate frog card that he had just acquired. Across from him, sat Hermione, with her legs tucked underneath her and a small book open in her lap, currently abandoned.**

 **"So, Hermione, how was Italy?" he asked.**

 **"Nice, but far too warm for my Mum. I loved seeing the Roman buildings, it was just incredible to realise that most of them had been there since before Merlin was born. I especially enjoyed visiting the Pantheon in Rome. Did you know that…"**

 **Ron rolled his eyes at Zack; "Ok Hermione, we get it, there are lots of really old crumbly buildings in Italy, you don't need to go on about them." Hermione glared at him, marked her place in her book before putting it down next to her and crossing her arms.**

 **"Philistine. Just because you have no interest in anything other than quidditch, chess and food doesn't mean that no one else does. Zack's interested, aren't you?"**

 **Zack held his hands up in front of him in surrender, not wanting to spend the rest of the train journey listening to nothing but his friends bickering. "I am interested Hermione, really I am, but for Ron's sake, tell me about your holiday later on."**

 **It was true, he was actually very interested, but he had long ago realised that there was no point trying to discuss anything even vaguely related to academics when Ron was around. Ron was his best friend, well, best male friend at least and he loved having him around. That did however, not stop him from realising that Ron could very easily drag him down academically and that meant that when it came to anything important, he had to semi-suspend his friendship with Ron.**

 **Initially, he had simply gone along with Ron's line of thinking, messing around and bunking off. That came to a very sudden stop however when his parents had pulled him away from talking to… his brother, after the end of his second year, having been sent a letter from Professor** **McGonagall which contained both his marks for the year and a very…. trite letter from his head of house, commenting on his attitude to work and the person that she thought was responsible for it. His end of year result had been, poor after his first year at Hogwarts, but his parents had more or less let them go with a warning that he needed to work harder and the thought that it was perhaps just a case of him getting used to a new school and style of learning.**

 **After the second year, and the letter however, they had been far more concerned, and disappointed and had made certain things extremely clear to him. Even his father, who was usually fairly relaxed, had given Zack a piece of his mind. There had also been various, consequences as well, but for Zack, the looks on his parents' faces and their stern words had been the worst thing and enough to make him change his ways.**

 **Hermione slumped back into her seat with her arms crossed and lips pursed, clearly unsatisfied. She may have been Ron's friend, but that didn't mean that sometimes she wouldn't prefer it if he wasn't around.**

 **The compartment having gone quiet, Zack turned his face to the window and gazed out at the English countryside as it raced past. The light of the sun, high in the sky as it was, led him to think back to the summer holidays, when the sun was always high in the sky. To the time that he had spent with his friends at each other's houses, at Diagon Alley and at the Quidditch world Cup. To the time that he had spent with his brother. With Vlad.**

 **He let out a soft sigh. His time with Vlad had sadly been limited this year as his brother had repeatedly had to spend time either closeted away in his room or travelling back to his Barony. He refused to tell anyone what he was doing, simply saying that he had 'important matters to deal with'. What really troubled Zack was the small smile, almost a smirk that hovered on Vlad's thin lips as he said it. He had spoken to his father about it. It was his father's belief that as he growing older, his brother was required to attend more functions and had to do more than simply sign documents that were handed to him and that as a result, he had less free time.**

 **It made sense of course that his brother's workload was increasing as he grew older. His brother was a Prince, and had a territory of his own to rule. In reality of course, he had never truly been running it or even had that much involvement in its running. No one would genuinely trust a child who until recently hadn't even been fourteen to run a house on their own, let alone, what they were led to believe was a fairly important province. They were told that instead, Vlad's personal Chamberlain had run it, and all that Vlad had been required to do was look good, sign documents, and have some small idea of what the documents he was signing actually meant. Hardly very taxing.**

 **In spite of this, that explanation just didn't quite seem, right. It certainly didn't explain the smile. Another thing that troubled him was why, as he left for the final time that summer, the day before Zack returned to Hogwarts, Vlad had said that he would see him soon. Sure, his brother had sometimes come to see him on Hogsmeade (being a Prince apparently allowed for such things), but again, something was just…. off, about it.**

 **Behind him, the compartment door slid open and he turned around to see Ginny followed in the nervous way that only he could manage, Neville, lugging their trunks into the compartment. He smiled, he was glad to see them, but mostly, he was just pleased because their arrival meant that Ron and Hermione were less likely find a new topic of 'conversation' and spend the rest of the long train journey having one of their legendary arguments about it.**

 **"To those of you who are returning, I say, welcome back. To our new students, I say, welcome to what I have every hope will be seven enjoyable years at Hogwarts."**

 **Zack clapped along with everyone else sat at the Gryffindor table, looking down the Great Hall to where Dumbledore stood behind the Professor's table in his long purple robes. The headmaster raised his hands for silence and the clapping quickly died down. He proceeded to make his usual, start of the year announcements but then, just as everyone was yawning contentedly, full of the fabulous feast the house elves had prepared; his next words caught their attention completely.**

 **"Now, before you all scurry off to bed, I have one final announcement top make. As many of you will no doubt be aware, many years ago, the Tri-Wizard tournament was suspended due to the rising death toll. I am pleased to announce however that the tournament will be returning this year and that Hogwarts will be acting as the host school." The headmaster's voice rose as eager murmuring began and the students began turning to their friends.**

 **"Yes, yes, it is very exciting" the chattering died down as Dumbledore spoke again, "However, I must make you aware, that the Tournament will not be returning in its previous form. In the interests of increasing international magical cooperation as much as possible, this year as a trial run, the tournament will in fact be a tri-race tournament. While small delegations from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons will be arriving next month in order to submit candidates for competition, there will I am afraid, only be one champion for each race taking part.**

 **Along with our European partners, we will be playing host to group of werewolves which has recently been formed into a school, and to a delegation of Vampires and Royal Vampires from their Kingdom in Eastern Europe."**

 **By now, the hall was full of murmuring. But unlike before, the students were scared. Vampire? Werewolves? In Hogwarts, with them? Despite the commotion around him, Zack was not talking. Instead, he was grinding his teeth together and trying not to swear. He adored his brother, but it was at times like this that he could quite happily wring his neck in his hands. 'Important matters to deal with', 'see him soon'. When he considered Dumbledore's announcements, and his brother's somewhat cryptic messages, and put two and two together… Well, hopefully Vlad would be wearing that armour of his when they next saw each other.**

 **"Zack. Zack!"**

 **He looked up to see Hermione giving him a concerned look. Before he had a chance to respond, there was a loud bang and their attention was drawn back to the headmaster who had his wand in the air and was looking annoyed and disappointed at the students in the emotive way that only he could.**

 **"Now, I am aware that some of you may have concerns about the presence of these races given their histories and their reputations. I can however assure you that safety measures are being put into effect to ensure the safety of everyone, human or otherwise." He peered over his half-moon glasses to emphasise his point; just as no attacks on the wizards and witches would be allowed, none would be allowed on the vampire and werewolves.**

 **"In spite of these, we must all remember that these races should not be trifled with. In particular, I must urge each and every one of you, not to encourage strife or conflict with our vampire guests." Gone now was the grandfatherly figure they all (well, almost all) knew and loved. Stood before them now was a man who had seen too much and wished to see no more. "These are not the mindless beings that many of you have been taught about, brought up to fear and hate. They are educated. They are civilised. But most of all, they are utterly without mercy to those who would threaten or attack them."**

 **The great hall had gone deathly silent. Never before had Dumbledore made such a statement. Even in Zack's first year, when they had been warned against going into the door of the third floor corridor had the headmaster been so grave.**

 **Happily, when he spoke again his tone was lighter and back to normal; "But now, the hour is late and we are all tired. Off to bed I think."**


End file.
